Praxis exam prep
Praxis Special Education: Early Childhood/Early Intervention Online Center
This Praxis Special Education: Early Childhood/Early Intervention Online Center brings together practice, lessons, worksheets, flashcards and review tools. Choose the resource that matches the skill you want to work on next.
2 free pop-up tests · 120 flashcards · 5 score categories
2 pop-up practice tests61 connected lessons1 complete flashcard deck
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Praxis 5692 Practice Center
Sit a full 120-question form on the clock, then read the explanation under every miss. Sort the misses two ways: content you did not know, and scenarios where you knew the content but picked the second-best action. The second pile is usually the larger one, and it shrinks fast once you learn what the test rewards.
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Praxis 5692 at a glance
This is the ETS special education test for candidates who will serve children from birth through age 8, which is grade 3. That age range is what makes it different from the school-age special education tests. Early intervention with infants and toddlers is fully in scope, so the Individualized Family Service Plan sits beside the IEP through the whole framework, and home visits and natural environments come up as often as classrooms. If you are looking for test 5691, Preschool/Early Childhood, it is retired: ETS replaced it with 5692 in September 2023, the 5691 test page is gone, and 5691 no longer appears on the Praxis test schedule.
| Test code | 5692 (Special Education: Early Childhood/Early Intervention) |
|---|---|
| Replaces | Test 5691, Special Education: Preschool/Early Childhood, which is retired. 5692 launched in September 2023 with 120 questions instead of 130 and five score categories instead of four. |
| Status | Current as of September 2026, with daily availability on the ETS test schedule. |
| Who takes it | Candidates seeking licensure as early childhood special education educators, serving children from birth to age 8 (grade 3). |
| Number of questions | 120 selected-response questions |
| Time limit | 120 minutes in a single session |
| Format | Computer-delivered, at a test center or at home with remote proctoring. There is no essay or case-study section. |
| Calculator | None is provided and none is needed. ETS lists no calculator, reference sheet, or formula sheet for this test. |
| Standards | Aligned to the Council for Exceptional Children Early Interventionist and Early Childhood Special Educator 2020 standards, per the ETS test announcement. |
| Score scale | 100 to 200, the standard Praxis Subject Assessments range. One raw point per correct question. |
| Passing score | ETS does not set one. Passing scores vary by state or agency, so check the requirement in the state where you are seeking licensure. |
ETS publishes both percentages and approximate question counts for the five categories: Child Development and Early Learning 21 percent (25 questions), Curriculum, Planning, and Instruction 25 percent (30), Assessment 20 percent (24), Partnering and Collaborating 18 percent (22), and Legal and Ethical Practices and Professionalism 16 percent (19). The counts are the better planning number, since the published percentages are rounded. Read them as one message: instruction and assessment together are 45 percent of the test, and the two people-facing categories, family partnership and professional and legal duty, are another 34 percent.
The five score categories, in plain language
ETS lists two lettered subareas under each category. Here is what each category actually asks you to do.
I. Child development and early learning (25 questions, 21 percent)
Typical and atypical development from birth through age 8, and where delays come from.
- Typical and atypical development across cognitive, communication, motor, social and emotional, and adaptive domains
- How adaptive, cognitive, communication, and functional skills shape behavior, including autism spectrum disorder
- Effects of disability on gross motor, fine motor, expressive, and receptive skills
- Major theories of learning and development and what they imply for early intervention
- Prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal causes, including traumatic brain injury and adverse childhood experiences
- Biological and genetic causes such as fragile X and Down syndrome
- Environmental causes such as fetal alcohol exposure and reactive attachment disorder
- Developmental delay as its own eligibility category, including communication and motor delays
II. Curriculum, planning, and instruction (30 questions, 25 percent)
The largest category: planning developmentally appropriate learning and delivering intervention that works.
- Developmentally appropriate, culturally responsive curriculum planned with families and colleagues
- Universal design for learning: engagement, representation, and action and expression
- Systematic instruction, multisensory programs, and differentiation driven by ongoing assessment
- Embedding learning into everyday routines, relationships, activities, and places
- Writing IFSP and IEP goals that support development and learning
- Assistive technology, educational software, and the online setting
- Play, peer models, and responsive adults as the engine of social learning
- Communication systems, including augmentative and alternative communication
- Function-based behavior support that prevents challenging behavior rather than reacting to it
- Planning for transitions and adjusting instruction from data across settings
III. Assessment (24 questions, 20 percent)
Screening, evaluation, eligibility, and progress monitoring, done fairly.
- Purposes of formal and informal assessment, including response to intervention, eligibility, and placement
- Assessment vocabulary such as valid, reliable, formative, and summative
- Culturally and linguistically fair assessment for English learners and children at risk for delay
- Exclusionary factors in an eligibility decision, including socioeconomic status and cultural factors
- Functional behavioral assessment feeding a behavior intervention plan
- Selecting, adapting, and administering measures for children with diverse abilities and needs
- Keeping an infant or young child engaged during assessment by varying materials and settings
- Interpreting data with the team and using it to write IFSP and IEP goals and judge whether programming works
IV. Partnering and collaborating (22 questions, 18 percent)
Working with families first, and with the team around them.
- Family-centered, culturally responsive practice and family systems theory
- Two-way exchange of information with families while developing an IFSP or IEP
- Honoring parent priorities, choices, and goals in what the plan says
- Supporting transitions for children and families from birth through age 8
- Explaining resources, supports, and related services clearly enough for a family to decide
- Advocating for access and participation in home, classroom, and community settings
- Roles of families, related service providers, the local education agency, and community agencies
- Teaming models, shared problem solving, and collaboration across disciplines
V. Legal and ethical practices and professionalism (19 questions, 16 percent)
The category ETS added in the 2023 redesign, and the one candidates most often underprepare.
- The continuum of placement and the principle of least restrictive environment
- Recognizing emotional distress, neglect, and abuse and following mandated reporting procedures
- The legal basis of services for infants and young children, including referral, placement, and due process
- Legal requirements for Section 504 plans, IFSPs, and IEPs, which ETS names by concept rather than by section number
- Parental rights, confidentiality, and ethical duty for children birth through age 8
- Specialized health care in an educational setting, such as epinephrine injection and feeding tube care
- Reflective practice, evidence-based information, and professional learning that changes what you do
- Disproportionate identification of culturally and linguistically diverse children and what drives it
A study routine for a 120-question, 120-minute test
One minute per question, and almost every question is a short scenario. There is no time to reason your way from scratch to what least restrictive environment means, so the vocabulary has to be finished before you sit down. Plan on four weeks if you are teaching while you study.
DiagnoseTake Practice Test 1 cold, 120 questions in 120 minutes. Tally the misses by category so you can see which of the five is actually weak.
Fix the vocabularyRun the deck until the terms come out without a pause. IFSP against IEP, Part C service coordination against school-age case management, functional behavioral assessment, least restrictive environment, and the score types in an evaluation report.
Work the biggest blockCurriculum, planning, and instruction is 30 questions and assessment is another 24. Together they are almost half the test, and they use the same skill: read the data, then pick the intervention it points to.
Learn the legal category properlyNineteen questions come from legal and ethical practice and professionalism, and it is new since the 5691 redesign. Study parental rights, due process, confidentiality, mandated reporting, and what belongs in a Section 504 plan against an IEP.
Practice answering as a team memberWhen a scenario involves a family, the answer that shares information and asks about the family’s priorities almost always beats the answer where the teacher decides alone. Say why the wrong choices are wrong.
Prove itTake Practice Test 2 in one sitting on the clock, then review every miss and every guess you got right.
The full competency map
All five ETS categories with their topics restated in plain language, 61 points in total. Work down the list and mark anything you could not explain to a colleague in two sentences.
I. Child Development and Early Learning (25 questions, 21 percent)
- 01Understand how typical and atypical development affects academic and nonacademic learning
- 02Comprehend how adaptive, cognitive, communication, and functional skills affect behavior in children with exceptionalities, including autism spectrum disorder
- 03Understand the effects of disabilities on gross motor skills, fine motor skills, and expressive and receptive skills
- 04Know the impact of major educational theories and philosophies on early intervention, learning, and development
- 05Know etiologies regarding pre-, peri-, and postnatal factors, including trauma such as traumatic brain injury and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)
- 06Know biological and genetic etiologies, including fragile X and Down syndrome
- 07Know environmental etiologies, including fetal alcohol exposure and reactive attachment disorder
- 08Know developmental delays as an etiological category, including communication delays and motor skill delays
II. Curriculum, Planning, and Instruction (30 questions, 25 percent)
- 09Understand developmental curriculums, generalization of skills, and differentiated instructional strategies, including using a cognitive skills taxonomy framework to guide instructional planning for individuals
- 10Collaborate with families and professionals using evidence-based, developmentally appropriate, culturally responsive early childhood curriculum addressing developmental and content domains
- 11Structure social environments using peer models and responsive adults to promote interactions, and implement and evaluate preventive and reductive strategies to address challenging behaviors
- 12Use knowledge of early childhood curriculum frameworks, development, academic content, and pedagogy to plan equitable access to universally designed, developmentally appropriate learning experiences in natural and inclusive environments
- 13Employ the three principles of universal design for learning: engagement, representation, and action and expression
- 14Use systematic instruction and multisensory programs based on learner characteristics, interests, and ongoing assessments
- 15Embed learning opportunities in everyday routines, relationships, activities, and places
- 16Use appropriate technology to support learning, including assistive technology, the online classroom environment, and educational software
- 17Organize and identify space, time, materials, peer groupings, and stakeholders to maximize progress in natural and structured environments
- 18Know how to develop Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSPs) and Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) that support child development and learning
- 19Identify systematic, responsive, and intentional evidence-based practices to facilitate interventions and instruction across developmental and academic content domains in natural environments and inclusive settings
- 20Gather information from multiple sources and environments to guide and support instruction
- 21Facilitate child-initiated development and learning
- 22Engage in ongoing planning and use appropriate materials to support interactions, interventions, and instruction, including teacher-scaffolded and teacher-initiated instruction that complements child-initiated learning
- 23Link development, learning experiences, and instruction to promote transitions
- 24Promote young children’s social and emotional competence and communication, and proactively plan and implement function-based interventions to prevent and address challenging behaviors
- 25Use strategies to teach social skills and conflict resolution
- 26Establish communication systems, including augmentative and alternative communication, that support self-determination for young children
- 27Identify and create multiple opportunities for young children to develop and learn play skills and engage in meaningful play experiences independently and with others across contexts
- 28Use individual and group guidance and problem-solving techniques to develop supportive relationships with and among children
- 29Plan for, adapt, and improve approaches to interactions, interventions, and instruction based on multiple sources of data across a range of natural environments and inclusive settings
- 30Use data to drive progress monitoring and inform behavior interventions
III. Assessment (24 questions, 20 percent)
- 31Be aware of the purposes of formal and informal assessments and data collection, including Response to Intervention, eligibility under the federal special education statute, and placement
- 32Comprehend specialized terminology used in assessment, such as valid, reliable, and summative
- 33Use culturally and linguistically diverse assessments to avoid bias for all learners at risk for or having developmental delays, including children with autism spectrum disorder and dyslexia and English learners
- 34Comprehend exclusionary factors involved in eligibility and determination, including socioeconomic status, parental history, and cultural factors
- 35Conduct functional behavioral assessments to support a behavioral intervention plan
- 36Select, adapt, and administer assessments to accommodate unique and diverse abilities and needs using evidence-based practices, including technology, in partnership with other professionals and families
- 37Use a variety of materials and contexts to maintain the interest of infants and young children in the assessment process
- 38Use informal assessments and valid and reliable formal assessments to make decisions about infants’ and young children’s development and learning
- 39Collaborate with families and other team members to analyze, interpret, and integrate assessment data in the development of IFSP and IEP goals, and monitor progress to determine the efficacy of programming
IV. Partnering and Collaborating (22 questions, 18 percent)
- 40Know culturally responsive family-centered practices and family systems theories, including the impact they have on the changing needs of families and the role they play in developing trusting partnerships
- 41Promote the mutual exchange of knowledge and information between professionals and families to develop IFSPs and IEPs
- 42Advocate for and support families in the development of goals and intervention strategies and the identification of services
- 43Consider parents’ priorities, choices, and goals in meeting the child’s developmental and educational needs
- 44Support the various transitions occurring for young children and families from birth through age 8
- 45Communicate clear, comprehensive, and objective information about resources, supports, and related service providers that helps families make informed decisions
- 46Advocate on behalf of students and parents to facilitate access, participation, and equitable opportunities in natural and inclusive environments, including home, classroom, and community environments
- 47Understand the diverse social, cultural, and linguistic needs of families to support each child’s social-emotional development and learning across contexts
- 48Understand the roles of individuals with exceptionalities, families, related service providers, local education agencies, and the community in planning individualized programs
- 49Participate as a team member to solve problems and to identify and strengthen team roles and communication with families, partners, and community agencies
- 50Use collaborative strategies, including teaming models and technology, when working with professionals representing multiple disciplines, skills, areas of expertise, and roles
- 51Use a variety of collaborative strategies that are culturally and linguistically responsive
V. Legal and Ethical Practices and Professionalism (19 questions, 16 percent)
- 52Understand the continuum of placement, the services available for individuals with exceptionalities, and the principles of least restrictive environment
- 53Recognize signs of emotional distress, neglect, and abuse and follow mandated reporting procedures
- 54Understand the foundations and legal basis of services for infants and young children both with and without exceptional needs, including referral, placement, and due process
- 55Identify the legal requirements for Section 504 plans, IFSPs, and IEPs, as ETS names these by concept rather than by section number
- 56Apply parental rights and legal and ethical responsibilities, including confidentiality and policies related to educational and developmental needs for children birth through age 8
- 57Know the requirements related to the provision of specialized health care in the educational setting, such as epinephrine injection and feeding tube care
- 58Engage in ongoing reflective practice and access evidence-based information to improve practices
- 59Participate in professional development and professional organizations, including multicultural and equity programs relevant to early childhood special education and early intervention
- 60Apply trends and evidence-based practices for infants and young children, including those from diverse backgrounds, in the field of early childhood education
- 61Understand the factors that influence the disproportion of culturally and linguistically diverse individuals
Before test day
Three habits carry candidates through this test. Keep the age range in mind: if the child is under three, think IFSP, family routines, and natural environments, and if the child is five, think IEP, classroom, and least restrictive environment. Keep the family in the answer, because scenarios reward the response that builds a partnership rather than the one that shows expertise. And read the last line of every scenario twice, since the question often asks for the teacher’s first step rather than the best long-term plan, and those are different answers. If you have a banked 5691 score, ask your state directly whether it still counts, because ETS does not publish that answer and each state decides for itself.
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Praxis Special Education: Early Childhood/Early Intervention: study questions
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